Sunday Salon: The most bi-polar week of my life

Hello friends!  Well, what a week.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to forget something.  But there were so many ups and downs that I really had no idea what emotion I should be feeling at any given moment.  But we are a glass half full kind of group, so I will highlight all the wonderful aspects of the last seven days first.

Monday:  Armed with numerous gift cards for the Ritz Carlton Spa, I spent the day there on Monday.  I indulged in a service that involved a body scrub, hydrotherapy, a body wrap, and full body massage, followed by lounging and lunch by the pool.  I felt like I was a princess.

Tuesday:  Heathrow Literary Society met on "The Swan Thieves", a book I read about a year ago.  I didn't love the book but it inspired some passionate responses in me, and we had a great discussion.  Upcoming reads, June through October - Lit by Mary Karr, Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese, Clara and Mrs. Tiffany by Susan Vreeland, East of Eden by John Steinbeck, and Loving Frank by Nancy Horan.

Thursday:  Barnes and Noble Book Fair.  What is not to love?  I buzzed around hand-selling all kinds of wonderful books to my friends.  We had a huge turnout and as usual, was the social event of the season for my kids' school.  This is the one and only fundraiser for the school library, so it made my heart warm to see the support.

Saturday:  My daughter and I spent the day at Discovery Cove, a theme park owned by Sea World.  For an enormous price (although our tickets were purchased cheap cheap at an auction) we had a dolphin encounter, snorkeled a coral reef, fed exotic birds, floated in a lazy river, and enjoyed free drinks, snacks and meals.  Phenomenal experience, and one we would not only strongly recommend but would do again ourselves.

Sunday:  Mother's Day!  After church, we will partake in a champagne brunch at our country club.  Followed by some relaxing by the pool with a book?

On the downside, in my attempt at getting ahead on my posts so I will be ready to leave for three weeks in June, I royally screwed up a few dates on my pre-published articles.  No, I am not in Poland.  I will be leaving June 1st, not May 1st!  Therefore, you will be seeing that particular post again.

And of course, my dear sweet beloved piggy Rufus died on Wednesday night.  (Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who has expressed your sympathies...you are all very kind.)  While I am blessed to have been able to hold him and talk to him while he passed over to piggy heaven, I am dragging some serious baggage around over the experience.  His passing has left a giant gaping hole in my heart and in my life.  Having been through this before, I know I will be slightly unstable for a period of time.  I will not drag out my sadness any more here on the blog, but be aware that if you know me in real life, you could possibly end up dealing with a few tears from me.  I can't predict when it will happen.

So do I laugh or cry or what?  All of the above.  I'm at peace with being the neighborhood fruitcake for the time being.

My reading has been just as erratic.  I did finish "Bent Road" by Lori Roy on audio for book club in a couple of weeks. I still need to sort out my feelings on this one.  The characters all drove me nuts, but the story was a twisting, winding wad of dysfunction.  Stay tuned on this one, as we will be speaking to Lori at our meeting.  Then I started Joshilyn Jackson's "The Girl Who Stopped Swimming" on audio.  Well, you just have to love her stuff.  She is so totally entertaining.  I should have that one wrapped up in another day or two.

Reading in print has not been quite that productive.  I did finish Daniel Palmer's "Delirious", and it towed the line on my mental thriller checklist.  Lots of nutty, crazy, thrilling stuff going on here, and he managed to keep me on the edge of my seat up until the last page.  I then started "Sue Ellen's Girl Ain't Fat, She Just Weighs Heavy" by Shellie Rushing Tomlinson (subtitled "The Belle of All Things Southern dishes On Men, Money, and Not Losing Your Midlife Mind").  I met Shellie at the UCF Book Festival, and she graciously gave a few of us this early copy of her upcoming release.  Good LORD she is funny, in a sarcastic Southern way, bless her heart.  I'm just not in the mood to be tickled, so I haven't advanced all that far.  Maybe next week.

I'm DESPERATELY trying to get caught up on my reviews, but it is slow going.  My only deadline is June 1st.  I'm only five reviews behind. So maybe I will make headway this week, even though it looks to be a busy one.

So there you have it.  I would like to wish all mothers (including wifes who act as mothers to grown up man-children, and mothers of pets) a Happy Mother's Day.  May your day be filled with happiness, relaxation and reading!